Online Business Interview With Bebop's Place

It's great to learn and share with other business owner's. Today I am sharing with you an online Q and A interview with another Zazzle designer. She does beautiful photography work for her shop. I am sure you will find it inspiring. Interviews are a nice way to see how other artists or entrepreneurs conduct their business. 

1.What is the name of your business? 

Bebop’s Place   https://www.zazzle.com/bebops

2. What inspired you to start your own business?

            I am a passionate amateur photographer. Mostly I photograph the wild natural beauty of rural upstate New York where I live.  I wanted to share my work and it seemed that offering my images on Zazzle products would be a good platform.

3. Can you provide me with a description of your business?

            I have a print-on-demand shop on the Zazzle website.  I fit my images to the huge variety of products offered by Zazzle.

4. What are the advantages of this form of business ownership?

            I love the idea that I am free to create the images and that Zazzle does the actual manufacturing and distribution.

5. How do your customers find your products? 

            I wish I knew!  I assume that they search the Zazzle website directly or through search engines.

6.  Where do you get your motivation when things are slow?

            Slow sales can be discouraging but my motivation really comes from the creative process and that keeps me going.

7. Is there anyone that you look up to for business advice?

            The Zazzle Forum is really my only source for help and advice.  We all share our knowledge and encourage each other.

8. Do you do marketing for your business? 

            I do have several blogs that I post my products to but that is really all.

9. What will you be focusing on for the upcoming holiday season?  

            Probably my favorite product line is my calendars.  I truly enjoy curating my work into specific thematic material.  I am hoping they will be popular this year.  Here is a link to my 2018 collection of 12 page calendars:  https://www.zazzle.com/collections/12_page_calendars_2018-119215454579432527

 Here are a couple of products that I like from Bebop's Place

Red Squirrel Postcard

Old Fashioned Roses Pillow

A Touch of Glitter Never Hurt Anyone

It's been proven that glitter is the perfect accent for any wedding or black tie event. There are ways to use a touch of glitter either in small understated ways or if you desire in big elegant ways and really make your celebration feel designer. Take some inspiration for those designer celebrity weddings. Adding some shiny sparkle can really make a reception or event extra special. 

Perhaps you might choose this look for your invitations and stationary items and then just add a touch of it to your wedding decor. Glitter comes in almost every color under the rainbow so you can choose to use traditional colors like gold or silver or find a totally different shade that you love. 

I've been trying to figure out how to create designs using glitter and sparkles for awhile now and I just figured out a way that I could make these backgrounds and use them on my store products.  So you guessed it, I've been busy creating all kinds of glitter images for wedding products like invitations, RSVP cards, champagne or wine labels, wedding stickers and other unique items that I thought looked really elegant with the faux glitter images.  I've also been playing with different shades and colors to make gorgeous products for you. My most favorite color so far is rose gold which also happens to be an on trend wedding color right now and can be paired nicely with a bolder color as well. It also looks amazing with Pantone's color of the year is 'greenery'.  You'll find this new shade of green popping up in everything from wedding bouquets to bridesmaid dresses. 

 I'll be working on some more designs for the Christmas season. It's good to be designing holiday items so that they are ready to sell a few months ahead as many people begin to shop earlier and earlier every year. So let the designing continue... 

Small Business Interview with Tanya Draws

Interviews are a great way to learn about people and their businesses. I don't know about you but I get inspired by those that are creative and work hard to have their own business.  Every couple of weeks I will strive to have a guest interview on my blog featuring either an artist or someone with an inspiring online business. Hearing how others conduct their company or design their work can give us ideas and help motivate us during those tough times. 

Today I am sharing an interview with you from a talented designer. 

1. What is the name of your business?
Tanya Draws

2. What was your motivation to start your own business?
I started this as a way to motivate myself to create more art, and to teach myself new skills in design. I had been pursuing freelance graphic design at the time, and thought designing the products at the print on demand Zazzle could be a great creative outlet. When people started buying my work, I knew it could be something more! I’ve been designing patterns and drawing ever since.

3. Can you provide me with a description of your business? 
I design cute, quirky and decorative patterns and illustrations for clothing, home decor and stationery. I create gifts that can be enjoyed by people of all ages - from animal puns, to decorative patterns that look great in the home. 

4. What are the advantages of this form of business ownership 
What I love about this form of business ownership is that I can focus on designing and do not have to worry about shipping products or stock levels. Its also purely online so I can really work on my shop at any time, anywhere.

5. How do your customers find your products? 
My art can be found at the online print on demand marketplaces Zazzle, RedBubble and DesignByHumans under the shop name Tanya Draws.

6. Where do you get your motivation when things are slow? 
When I’m slowing down creatively, what helps me is to go shopping! It sounds weird, but browsing a retail store to see what items they have in stock and what kind of colours, styles and designs are popular for the season is inspiring.

7. Is there anyone you look up to for business advice? 
One person I really look up to for business advice is my sister! She is younger than me…  but she goes shopping way more than me, and always knows what is popular. :) Her great eye for style and her love of awkward humour has definitely impacted my shop!

8. Do you do marketing for your business? 
I do mainly social media marketing for my business. I can be found on twitter and Instagram! I also have a blog to showcase my work. 

9.What will you be focusing on for the upcoming holidays? 
For the holidays, I’m working on building up a collection of Holiday themed stationery & photo greeting cards! I’ve also got a bunch of holiday themed patterns in the works that I hope to add to my shop in the next few weeks. 

10. Is there anything that you struggle with in your business? 
My biggest struggle has always been keeping my self doubt in check and maintaining a balance between being critical of my work, and striving to improve. I know that I’ve grown so much as a graphic designer and artist in the past 3 years and part of that is because I see things I could have done better in my work… however sometimes I can forget this and be too critical! As creatives, I think this happens a lot. Its important to see where you can improve but its equally important to keep the things you like about your work in mind, too.

I hope you enjoyed learning about Tanya Draws. This is one of my favorite patterns that she has created. You can find it on many different products in her shop. 

Red Poppy Pattern

Reasons to Love Fall

The leaves are beginning to change colors and subtle hints of the fall season are starting to appear. Fall is by far my favorite season of the year for so many reasons.  The spring season is not far behind but during the fall months I revel in the crisp fresh air as I take walks and feel the crunch of fallen leaves beneath my feet or feel the gentle wind on my face as I take a bike ride. Autumn has a particular beauty to enjoy. 

I find this season to be one of fresh beginnings, letting go of the lazier days of summer and setting new goals and getting back into more structured days. The evening sets in sooner and it feels okay to go to bed a little earlier when it's dark outside.  

Another one of my favorite things about the fall season is everything Pumpkin. I know, but seriously I love pumpkin pie. My husband and I have to limit ourselves to one a month or we would find ourselves eating it every weekend and that would definitely blow the health goals. Tis' the season of pumpkin loaves, muffins, pumpkin lattes and even pumpkin scented candles. 

Fall is also the season of cozy over sized sweaters and boots of course.  No more sweaty summer days of melting makeup and flat hair. Pretty fall colored clothing and makeup can give you a new sense of freshness. 

The autumn season also lends itself to comfort food. Time to make some hearty lentil soup and enjoy warm muffins with a hot cup of coffee.  Things that can be made in the crock pot like tasty chili's also make me think of fall days.  Last night I made one of our favorite recipes and this one is super easy.  It's called Zesty Bean Dip and this recipe only uses 4 ingredients and whips up in no time. If you want to try this recipe just click on the link. It's so yummy. 

If you decide to make this recipe leave me a comment and let me know how you liked it. 

Time to get busy and work on some new designs for the upcoming holidays. I hope you take time to enjoy some of the many great things about the fall season.